


Voltron's Rent

by Thewhatifs_and_AUsonly



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: 1989-1990, Aged-Up Character(s), Allura is Joanne, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Bisexual Shiro (Voltron), Crossdressing, Drug Use, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/M, Gay Keith (Voltron), HIV/AIDS, Heavy Angst, Hunk and Shay are there, Hunk and Shay will be our cute fluff couple because I feel we are going to need that, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Keith is Mark, Lance is a mix of Roger+Maureen+Mimi, Lotor is Benny, M/M, Modern-ish, Moo with me, Multi, Pidge is Angel, Prostitution, Rent AU, Shiro is Collins, Strippers & Strip Clubs, Zarkon is Lotor's father in law, and important, everyone is of legal age, just not any characters, you'll get it once you read it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-10
Updated: 2018-11-19
Packaged: 2019-08-21 18:02:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16581377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thewhatifs_and_AUsonly/pseuds/Thewhatifs_and_AUsonly
Summary: A year in the lives of eight friends and how their lives connect and intertwine.Or a RENT au no one asked for. (I recommend to watch RENT before you read this. You can find it on Netflix.)





	1. Teaser

**Author's Note:**

> This a teaser to see if people like this. This is set before the actual story. I recommend you watch RENT before you read this.

 

Keith walked around East Village, New York City. He dejectedly sighed at the despairingly cloudy grey sky, not unlike the dirty abandoned buildings. Another film, another rejected offer. He's been trying to get a good deal for his films for years, but no matter what script he made it never worked. He continued to walk down the trash littered street. Keith startled when he heard a slight  _crunch_ under his foot. Keith looked down to see one of his flyers. 

After Lotor left to get married, Keith has been without a roommate. He didn't need one to help with rent; Lotor basically gave the whole apartment complex to the people for free (Keith didn't trust it at first- Lotor's always been kinda slimy- but the offer was too good  _not_ to take). No, it was because he needed someone to help him with the house. Keith originally put out flyers, but after a week of no one coming he gave up. Maybe he could get Shiro to live with him.

Keith scowled down at the paper before picking it up. He crumbled the damn thing and threw it without thinking. He tracked the wad of paper to the building it hit. It wasn't like the other buildings. It still looked old and run down like them, but it seemed like someone was trying to take care of it. Now Keith's curiosity was peaked. He pulled out his camera (Which has now become a habit) winding it up as he walked toward the building.

When Keith opened the door, he was bombarded with the smell of pastries. The air was sweet and warm, tickling Keith's nose, but not the way that it would make him sneeze. It was nice. Still holding his, now recording, camera, Keith walks into the building. Colorful pastries are displayed in glass cases from donuts to cakes. A couple of tables and chairs are scattered around, bright yellow and warm brown wood to match the rest of the color scheme. It definitely set of a family vibe. Keith caught the sounded of metal pans clashing together in dissonance, causing Keith to cringe slightly. A man hurried behind the counter and said,"Hello, welcome to Chunky Hunk's Bakery. What can I get you?"

The man was definitely... big. Not that it was a bad thing, if anything the man would've looked intimidating if it wasn't for the fact he was wearing a frilly yellow apron. He didn't look like he was from New York. The man had a dark complexion compared to the pale citizens who had lived in New York all their lives. His dark hair was pulled back with an orange headband. 

Despite all this Keith still froze up. He didn't want to by anything and even if he did he didn't have any money. What was Keith suppose to say? "Oh, I threw a piece of garbage at your lovely bakery and decided to come in and record some shit?" If only it were that easy.

Apparently, Keith didn't need to start the conversation. As soon as the man saw his camera his face lit up."Woah, dude, is that a Bolex H8 8mm?" Keith stared in shock for a second before slightly nodding his head. He pressed his lips in a stern line nervously. He didn't know how to talk to people, he was an observer. 

The man went out from behind the counter to take a closer look. When he got close enough to he reached out before stopping. Warm brown eyes met violet ones. How can someone look so warm. It almost irritated Keith. "Uh, sorry man.", the man said, looking sheepishly apologetic,"Mind if I look at it, I won't mess with it."

The man looked too sincere to deny. Keith sighed before motioning him to take the camera."Just be careful with it." 

The man nodded happily taking the camera with care."Wow. I haven't seen one of these in forever." He seemed to examine it like it was some important relic.

Keith swallowed before speaking."Do you, um, film?"

The man startled, as if he forgot Keith was there."Who, me? Nah, my grandpa had one. Of course, that was before I needed to use it for one of my engineering projects."

"Oh, that's cool." Keith didn't know if he felt comfortable with the implication that this man destroyed the same type of camera he's holding now. He decided to distract himself by asking more questions."So, you don't look like you're from around here? New to New York."

"Yeah, moved from Hawaii a month ago.", the man said, still examining the camera.

"Hawaii, huh? That's pretty far."

The man let out a hum."Yup, it's been my dream to have a bakery in New York." That's sounds kinda specific. Keith's brows furrowed. Why go through all the trouble?

"So, you own this bakery?", Keith asked.

"Yeah. Unfortunately, I'm living in here until I find a apartment." This is when Keith had an idea.

"You're looking for an apartment?" The man hummed, _still_ examining the camera (It can't be that interesting). Keith licked his lips nervously. What was he thinking? Invite a complete stranger to live with you! What made this a good idea? But Keith was desperate and this guy seemed nice enough."I'm looking for a roommate?", Keith said with uncertainty. What if doesn't want to? Why wouldn't he want to?

The man's face lit up even more than before."Really man? You'd do that for me?"

"I mean, yeah. I need someone to take care of the house while I'm out."

"Yes please! Thank you, thank so much. So, so much...", the man said handing back the camera."You know, you deserve a donut or two. On the house."

"You don't really have to... um...", Keith started. He didn't know this dude's name. What did he agree to?

"Call me Hunk."

Keith gave a small smile."Nice to meet you Hunk, I'm Keith."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	2. Act 1: The Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Hunk try to figure out how to pay the money they owe after the "Prince of Galra Industries", Lotor, goes back on his word. Takashi Shirogane, or Shiro, is coming home for Christmas Eve but gets beaten by muggers in an alleyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: Descriptions of the homeless, Descriptions of violence, Mentions of drugs, Descriptions of money problems

 

 

"December twenty-fourth, nineteen eighty-nine", Keith said behind the camera,"New York." He aimed it at a man attempting to clean a car window in the frozen Christmas air. It was obvious that he was one of the poorer people of New York, if not homeless. Like most people in New York, really. "From here on out I'm shooting without a script. Maybe something will come out of it, at least something better than my old shit."

"Get off ma' car.", the man inside the car demanded. The car itself was expensive, the man was probably rich. Definitely sounded like a douche, but why be a jerk about someone cleaning your car (then again Keith has about as little context as possible, so...)? Still, the hobo stayed, whether he didn't hear it or he really wanted to do a good deed for Christmas, Keith didn't know. The man in the car revved his engine then sped forward while yelling,"I said get off!", almost running over the hobo.  

Keith put down his camera and scowled at where the car used to be. How disgusting; it's Christmas, the least you could do is let him do you one favor. Keith put the camera away, getting on his bike. It was ridiculous how people could be so nasty to each other, like it was some sort of crappy reality show.

The red and white car lights from the busy street mixed with the light from the various neon signs would hurt the eyes of anyone who wasn't used to it, so bright you couldn't see the stars. The different  _Beeps!_ and  _Bonks!_ and yelling would have probably made people new to New York go deaf. Keith, on the other hand, was perfectly fine with this as he rode through the traffic. In fact he was more worried about getting home before Shiro got there. Maybe Keith should have slowed down a little, seeing as people could walk in front of him any moment, but... nah, he's good.

As he got closer to his apartment- and out of traffic- he slowed down slightly. It was significantly more quiet here, only the coughs and scuffles of a few people. Without all lights it looked dirty and dark, despairing. This part of town was the definition of hopeless. Thugs mugged for money, the homeless scrounged for resources. And Keith's apartment building was right in the middle of it. He stopped for a moment, taking it all in before sighing. Why does he still live here?

His eyes caught a poster attached to a lamppost. Keith's brows furrowed in curiosity, that wasn't there before. He walked over to it to read. While the lamppost only gave so much light, it wasn't hard to see the big bold letters. Keith felt a multitude of emotions- from confusion to a fiery anger to an "I knew it"- replace the hopelessness of the street. His face twisted with rage as he tore off the poster. He jumped on his bike and booked it. He needed to tell Hunk about this.

When he did make it, he walked through the door and was immediately greeted with the slight whiff of cheese and a very confused Hunk. Hunk had been Keith's roommate for slightly over a year now. He owned a small bakery about a block away. While Keith originally wanted someone to take care of the apartment, Hunk was a really sweet guy and he didn't mind trading a clean home for good food. "Hey man, the power just went out. You know what's going on?", he asked, worry obvious in his expression,"'Cause there's like a half baked casserole in the oven that was going to be our dinner." Keith sighed threw down his bike. The action startled Hunk."So... you do know?"

Keith sighed angrily."He fucking broke his word, Hunk.", he yelled.

Hunk gave him a confused look."Who did? What does that have to do with the-"

Keith's groan interrupted him."Just read the damn thing yourself. I'll get some candles." He shoved the poster from before into Hunks hands and went to find some matches.

Hunk tracked him walking through their rundown apartment for a moment. While it was normal for Keith to be irritated when he came home, this was different. Hunk has only seen Keith like this if someone really got on his nerves. The latter must have thrown something, because Hunk jumped at the sound of glass breaking and a loud,"FUCKING SHIT YOU FUCKING MAINSTREAM PIECE OF STUPID BROKEN WINDOW! GO FUCK YOURSELF BY DYING IN AN ASS'S ASS WHILE DOING THE TANGO!" Hunk winced. That's definitely a new one for Keith. 

He finally decided to read the poster his roommate shoved into his hands. Hunk's eyes widened at the word in bold letters.  **Eviction.** Keith stomped back into the room carrying a box of candles given to him as various gifts. Hunk worriedly ran up to Keith. "Oh no. This is bad, like really bad. God, this is-"

"Bad. I figured.", Keith growled.

"Didn't you say-"

"Lotor promised? Yeah, he did. Then he decided to be fucktard and break it, charging rent." Keith knew it. Ever since he's known Lotor, he felt something off about him. He was the disowned son of a wealthy family, he was handsome, intelligent, and a total silvertounge. Yeah it may be a stereotype, but guys like Lotor never make a promise they keep. Now he's married into Galra Industries, becoming the heir to it. Typical he would turn around and do something like this." Makin' us pay three years of it too. How much money do you have saved up?", Keith asked placing the candles on various old, scuffed furniture.  

"Enough for six months? That's not counting food, electricity, and heat?", Hunk answered with both uncertainty and caution. Keith groaned again, stomping towards his anxious roommate and shoving a pack of matches in his hands. Hunk looked at Keith in confusion.

"Light the candles, I already placed them. I'm gonna start a fire in that bin we found.", Keith mumbled.

"O-oh yeah."

Keith pulled out a large cardboard box. The box itself was normal but what was inside gave Keith gross memories. Hundreds among hundreds of failed screen plays. Keith scowled at it. He carried the box to the bin and started throwing the stacks of -once cherished- stories that never worked. Keith felt a mix of emotions. Satisfaction at the beginning of his throat, guilt a little lower. Anger was like fire at his veins, and nostalgia at the base of his stomach. Hunk was now finished lighting the candles, the smell of honey, vanilla, and lavender. He threw in a newly lit match into the paper filled bin. Keith kept shoving them in there while he and Hunk broke the silence between in a conversation about what to do for rent. 

"Maybe... we can take out a loan?", Hunk suggested.

Keith paused for a second before looking at Hunk with a deadpan expression."Sure, we'll just take out hundreds of loans for our three year's worth of rent. Then we'll end up being more fucked then we are now, brilliant." Hunk gives a small smile in response. Keith's always been that way, Hunk knew he didn't mean it.

They continued throwing screen plays into the fire filled bin. Keith stiffened when he saw... that one. Hunk noticed looking over Keith's shoulder."Isn't that the one you and one you wrote together?" 

The emotions he was feeling before were growing in intensity, but even then, cold sadness drowned them. It was a thick stack of yellow tinted papers, the pages weathered from age and use. Keith was tempted to open it, read the story. Instead he shook his head and threw into the fire.

Hunk looked at him with shock."Why would you do that?" Hunk never knew John, just that he was Keith's boyfriend before he died. Keith throwing away the screen play was shocking because it was a memory. Hunk couldn't fathom throwing away memories of his deceased loved ones.

"There's no point in keeping it.", was all Keith provided.

_RANG!_

Hunk nearly jumped out of his skin at the ring that echoed through the room. Keith immediately perked up, his whole demeanor brightened."Must be Shiro." He sprinted towards the phone (even though it was completely unnecessary). He picked up the phone at such a speed that one could of thought it disappeared. Hunk's met Shiro a few times (who had the weirdest hair; black, styled in an undercut with a white floof of hair in the front), coming over to visit Keith, his adopted brother. The man was a teacher at god knows where (he was hired and fired far too much to keep track) and dripped responsibility and leadership. It was almost frightening how he could get Keith looking so happy."Shiro!", Keith greeted into the receiver.

"Hey, it's cold out here. Throw down the keys!"

"Yeah, yeah." Keith stuffed his hand in his pocket in an effort to find said keys. Once he did he sped towards the balcony, immediately spotting Shiro.

"Hurry up.", the teacher yelled.

Keith grinned as he whipped down the keys and retreated into the apartment. Shiro caught them and hiked toward the building when a group of three men surrounded him."Hey, man, you have a light?"

Shiro furrowed his eyes in suspicion."Yeah, sure, just..." Shiro dug in his coat pocket, slightly on edge by the group. 

Shiro didn't know who started what, but next thing he knew, he was sprinting away from the thugs into a nearby alley. He tripped, falling painfully on the side of his face as the sharp pain of the thugs kicking him spread throughout his body. At one point in his beating, he was pinned to a wall and got a wide gash from a broken beer bottle across his nose. He was dropped just as brutally as he was pinned and beaten. His head was like those merry-go-rounds on cocaine. Shiro didn't know what was happening, as black dots sprinkled in his vision, multiplying by the second until all he saw was black.

While all this was happening, Keith and Hunk waited. Keith anxiously walked back out onto the balcony."Where is he?"     

Suddenly there was yelling from outside. No, not yelling... chanting? Keith and Hunk looked at each other with confused expressions before looking out from the balcony. Outside other people were chanting from their balconies."We're not gonna pay! We're not gonna pay! We're not gonna pay!" Then a very familiar car pulled into view as people started throwing burning papers to the ground. Lotor stepped out of the car, dressed in clothes that were too nice for the average New Yorker. Keith's face twisted into a scowl as Hunk grimaced. 

"Hunk."

"Yeah?"

"Let's dump the bin.", Keith ordered, already walking through the beaten apartment. He torn down a piece of cloth from the rafters of the ceiling to throw in the fire, revealing the broken skylight.

Hunk followed Keith. They took four long strides to the balcony, dumping the fire to down on the street. Fire- not only from Keith and Hunk, but from others in the apartment complex too- lit the streets like hot Christmas lights. Not enough to be any real danger, but there was an ever present "Mess with us, we dare you" vibe. 

Lotor tried to be a peacemaker."Everyone calm down!"

"You turned our power of asshole!"

"You really expects us to pay?"

"What are you gonna do? Evict the whole building?"

When they act tough, Keith mused to himself with a smirk, you call their bluff. People started to flood the street, surround Lotor and his fancy car. All were chanting and protesting loudly."We're not gonna pay! We're not gonna pay! We're not gonna pay!" Eventually the people dissipated from the streets, leaving the businessman alone.

Lotor looked behind him towards his car. His nose wrinkled at the sight of a dirty homeless man leaning against his car. That was expensive and Lotor would like to keep it as nice as possible."Off the car." The homeless man rolled his eyes, but did as told, walking away.

"You know, what you did id exactly what the upcoming protest is about.", Keith called.

"Come down here, I have something I need to tell you two.", Lotor called back impatiently.

Hunk and Keith looked at each other once more, the former sighing, and the latter grumbling to get it over with. This was going to be a long night. 

  

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't find a great place to end the chapter so I decided to end it here. Next chapter we will be introducing Lance and Pidge, and find more about Lotor and his motivations. 
> 
> Should I make my own protest or keep Maureen's? Your feedback is much appreciated, thank you.


End file.
